The trend toward renting instead of buying a home trickled down to the bottom line for landlords this year, as more than $14.3 billion in rent was paid in the Chicago area, an increase of 7.4 percent from 2013, according to an analysis by Zillow.

Part of that gain can be attributed to the number of new renters in the local housing market this year. Zillow estimates there were 23,000 more renters in the Chicago area in 2014. But rent increases also played a factor. The average renter here paid about $600 more in rent this year than last, the company said.

Nationally, renters paid $441 billion in rent in 2014, $20.6 billion more than they did in 2013, an increase that came about because of a 1.9 percent increase in renters and a 2.9 percent gain in the median rent paid.

"Next year, we expect rents to rise even faster than home values, meaning that another increase in total rent paid similar to that seen this year isn't out of the question. In fact, it's probable," said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries.

The trend toward renting, either by choice or because of financial condition, caused the nation's homeownership rate this year to fall to 64.3 percent in the third quarter, a level not seen since 1995. The rate then was 64.4 percent.